AC Repair in Daphne, AL
Air conditioners here run from May through October. If yours quits, tell us what it's doing and a licensed contractor who covers Baldwin County will get in touch.
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Six months of heat wears on your AC
Your air conditioner runs May through October in Daphne, six months a year. On afternoons that average 90°F, the compressor cycles on and off for hours at a stretch trying to keep up. That much run time wears on the parts that keep it running, and a system that was fine last summer can start losing ground this year.
Baldwin County has also seen 109 damaging wind events and 35 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 4 inches. Wind can bend the fins on the outdoor unit or knock it out of level, and hail that size can dent the cabinet and damage the coil inside it. You notice it as a system that runs longer than it used to, or one that stops cooling the house the way it should.
- 6 months
- May through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 35 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 109 wind events
- in ten years, and wind drives debris into outdoor units
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A new air conditioner would cut about $80 a year off cooling for a typical Baldwin County home.
Estimates for a typical Baldwin County home, compared with an older unit built to the previous federal minimum, from EIA household energy data, Alabama fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Repair makes sense when a part like a capacitor or contactor has failed.
Replacement makes sense when the compressor has failed or the system uses R-22 refrigerant, which is no longer made.
Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Board tests contractors before they get that license, and it keeps a record of who holds one. That license covers the contractor, not each individual job, so it stands behind the company you hire rather than being issued fresh for your repair.
For a repair on your air conditioner, the part that matters most is the refrigerant. Any technician who opens that side of the system, in Alabama or anywhere else, has to hold EPA Section 608 certification. That certification is federal, separate from the state license, and it is what says a technician is trained to handle refrigerant without letting it escape into the air.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- Why is my AC not blowing cold air?
- Most often the filter is clogged and starving the system of airflow, or the refrigerant level is low from a leak somewhere in the line. A dirty outdoor coil can do it too, especially after a summer of running six months straight here. Check the filter first since that's the one thing you can rule out yourself. If it's clean and the air is still warm, the system needs a contractor to check refrigerant levels and the coils.
- Why is my AC leaking water?
- Water around your unit usually means the condensate drain line is clogged, so the water that's supposed to drain away backs up and spills out instead. It can also mean the evaporator coil has frozen over and is now thawing and dripping. A clogged drain is common with how much these systems run through the summer here. Either way, shut the system off until a contractor clears the line or checks the coil, since running it with a frozen coil can damage the compressor.
- Why won't my AC turn on?
- Start with the thermostat. Check that it has power and is actually set to cool below the room temperature. If that's fine, check your breaker panel, since a tripped breaker will keep the whole system dark. Alabama's had 109 damaging wind events here over the past ten years, and outages or power surges from storms are a common reason a breaker trips. If the breaker resets and trips again, or the thermostat has power but the system still won't start, that points to something inside the unit that a licensed contractor needs to look at.